At her players’ request, Cori Close showed up inside Pauley Pavilion five hours before tipoff. The UCLA women’s basketball coach was joined by her assistants and managers for pregame shooting at 6:30 a.m., so many players filling the court that the sessions had to be staggered.
Three days after a lackluster showing in their season opener, the Bruins felt they had something to prove in their first game at home. The additional work before facing UC Santa Barbara on Thursday reflected their commitment.
“I mean, I never have to coach this team’s work ethic,” Close said. “That is never in question. And so that’s a really fun place to be in.”
The day’s biggest gratification would come later, the third-ranked Bruins resembling an All-Star team at times during an 87-50 rout of the Gauchos that showed glimpses of the firepower they hope to fully unleash by season’s end.
Forward Gabriela Jaquez revealed one of the best long-range shooting displays of her career, making four of seven three-pointers on the way to 21 points. Point guard Kiki Rice was a constant playmaker in her return to the starting lineup while scoring 20 points, grabbing eight rebounds and distributing three assists. Shooting guard Gianna Kneepkens added another dimension to the offense with four more three-pointers and 20 points.
It was the first time the Bruins had three players score 20 or more points since four of them did it against Bellarmine in November 2023.
“There’s so many weapons that I feel like it’s hard for the defense to choose what to take away,” Kneepkens said, “so I think really what makes this team special is that on any night it could be someone’s night, so that’s a really hard thing to scout.”
The challenge for the Bruins (2-0) could be to maximize all that talent.
Close said Rice had sent her an Oklahoma City Thunder news conference in which the team talked about building rhythm with its offense by best utilizing the players who were hot on any given night.
“We’re not quite there yet,” Close said. “We’re not playing with great rhythm. … I think we just haven’t totally found that flow yet.”
UCLA guard Kiki Rice drives to the basket past UC Santa Barbara guard Zoe Shaw during the second half Thursday.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
Part of that could be pinned on Rice still rounding into form from a shoulder injury and fellow point guard Charlisse Leger-Walker (eight points, seven assists, three steals) playing in only her second game since returning from a lengthy injury layoff.
The Bruins were also without Sienna Betts (lower leg) and Timea Gardiner (knee) for a second consecutive game. Close said there remained no timetable for Betts’ return even as she continued to progress.
But Close said she liked the way her players responded after describing them as “flat all the way around” in their opener, a 24-point victory over San Diego State.
“The film session after that was not fun. Practice was not fun,” Close said. “And their willingness to say, ‘This is what we need. We need to be challenged. We didn’t meet the standard’ — I’m really impressed with their willingness to do that.”
After some lackadaisical UCLA defense in the first quarter, there was a stretch in the second quarter in which the Bruins made it difficult just to get the ball past halfcourt.
Jaquez stuck out a hand, tipping an outlet pass to herself before going in for a driving layup in which she was fouled. On the Gauchos’ next possession, Leger-Walker came up with another steal, leading to a Rice layup.
It wasn’t long before Jaquez and teammate Lauren Betts (12 points, seven rebounds, six assists) used a double team along the sideline to force another turnover.
Closing the half on a 19-2 run, the Bruins surged into a 51-26 lead. UCLA also benefited from an oddity midway through the second quarter when the Gauchos (1-1) were assessed a technical foul for having a player wearing a jersey number that didn’t correspond with the scorebook.
For UCLA, the biggest challenge might have been scheduling the game.
Close said she’s struggled to get teams to agree to play the Bruins after their Final Four run, calling every school in the state from San Luis Obispo to San Diego. Most of UCLA’s marquee nonconference games, starting with a showdown against Oklahoma on Monday in Sacramento, will be at neutral sites.
“They kept saying it’s the Lauren Betts factor and I was like, ‘No, it’s the you’re scared factor. Come on,’ ” Close said. “I actually really lose respect for people who aren’t willing to step up and play hard people.”
The Gauchos eagerly complied in part because they were Close’s alma mater and the spot where she coached for nine years.
“Thank you to them for stepping up and coming into Pauley,” Close said, “and wanting to get better at their craft and growing the game.”
For the Gauchos, given the way things went, they might be owed a Christmas card as well.
Early to rise, the Bruins also put an early end to any upset hopes.
Ivan Toney could be offered a route back to England with Tottenham, Real Madrid are keeping tabs on Declan Rice, and Chelsea enquire about Nico Paz.
Tottenham manager Thomas Frank could look to reunite with 29-year-old Al-Ahli and England striker Ivan Toney – who he managed at Brentford – in January. (Talksport), external
Real Madrid’s Brazil forward Rodrygo, 24, is also high on Tottenham’s list of attacking targets. (Teamtalk), external
Arsenal have placed a 150m euro (£132m) valuation on England midfielder Declan Rice, 26, who is admired by Real Madrid. (Fichajes – in Spanish), external
Chelsea have enquired about Como’s Nico Paz, 21, but face strong competition from Real Madrid, who could look to re-sign the Argentina playmaker. (TBR Football), external
Newcastle are “relaxed” about Sandro Tonali’s comments on his future, and will not begin formal talks about a new contract for the 25-year-old Italy midfielder until later in the season. (Mail Plus – subscription required), external
Newcastle are in talks with Netherlands defender Sven Botman, 25, over a new contract, but Sweden defender Emil Krafth, 31, is drawing interest from FC Copenhagen. (Mail Plus – subscription required), external
Barcelona are planning to open formal talks with Manchester United over a permanent deal for 28-year-old England forward Marcus Rashford. (Teamtalk), external
Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, Leeds, Everton, Barcelona and Real Madrid are among the other clubs interested in Mainoo. (Caught Offside), external
Borussia Dortmund are keen to re-sign England winger Jadon Sancho, 25, who is currently on loan at Aston Villa from Manchester United. (Football Insider), external
Real Madrid are hoping to sign Bayern Munich and France defender Dayot Upamecano, 27, on a free transfer when his contract expires at the end of the season. (Sky Germany – in German), external
Atletico Madrid are keeping tabs on Chelsea’s Spain defender Marc Cucurella, 27, but do not want to move for him until next summer. (Fichajes – in Spanish), external
Ajax have approached their former manager – and ex-Manchester United boss – Erik ten Hag over a return after suspending head coach John Heitinga. (Fabrizio Romano), external
In the midst of negotiating a long-awaited trade deal with India, European Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič is facing a real headache: how to avoid a clash with Pakistan while resisting pressure from India to recognise the Indian origin of the long-grained, fragrant basmati rice.
“This is of course one of the issues which is on the list,” Šefčovič admitted on 12 September as he was back from a round of negotiation in New Delhi.
New discussions are taking place in Brussels this week, as both India and the European Union have set themselves the goal of reaching a trade deal before the end of the year, with the new tariff policy of the Trump administration putting both partners under pressure to build new trade ties.
Of course, basmati rice will be among the issues discussed between Šefčovič and his Indian counterparts, as India wants its geographical indication (GI) protected in Europe.
But such recognition would not come easily, since its rival neighbour Pakistan — which has been in conflict with India over the disputed Kashmir region since the partition of the two countries in 1947 — also demands the EU to recognise basmati as of Pakistani origin.
The protection of GIs carries significant economic stakes. Trade talks between the EU and its partners usually include a separate section dedicated to it. Owing to its rich artisanal and culinary heritage, the EU — largely thanks to France, Italy and Spain — holds the largest number of GIs in the world.
In trade negotiations, Brussels seeks to have as many of its products as possible protected by the other party to prevent counterfeiting in that country, with France’s champagne and Italy’s famed Parmigiano Reggiano cheese being the most commonly forged products.
And the other party to the negotiation can accept, provided the agreement also defends its own interests and GIs.
The failure of a joint recognition
If it were up to the EU alone, it would have recognised basmati rice as Indian and Pakistani long ago — but it’s not that simple.
At the beginning, things hadn’t started off so badly. In fact, India and Pakistan had jointly led a fight against a US company RiceTec, which had obtained a patent on basmati rice in the late 1990s. In 2001, the US Patent and Trademark Office revoked that patent.
A few years later, to protect the origin of basmati in the EU, Islamabad and New Delhi collaborated between 2004 and 2008 on a joint application to the European Commission for the recognition of their shared heritage over the rice which comes from the Punjab region, situated on the border between India and Pakistan.
But the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which 160 people were killed and which India attributed to Pakistani intelligence services, shattered the joint efforts of the two countries and reshuffled the deck.
After years of deadlock and tension, India unilaterally submitted a request for GI registration to the European Commission in 2018.
The application states that the rice, characterised by “an exquisite aroma, sweet taste, soft texture, delicate curvature,” is grown in the Indo-Gangetic plains, a geographic zone divided between India, Pakistan, Cambodia and Nepal, which also includes the Punjab region.
In the months that followed, Pakistan opposed India’s application, perceiving it as an attempt to secure exclusive use of the term “basmati”.
And after unsuccessful exchanges between the lawyers of both parties, Pakistan submitted its own request for GI status in 2023, listing not only the Indo-Gangetic plains but also four districts of the much-disputed Kashmir — Mirpur, Bhimber, Poonch, and Bagh — as places where basmati rice is grown.
Both sides deny requests for exclusive recognition
After several years of attempting to mediate between the two rival brothers, the EU found itself caught in the trap of territorial recognition of Kashmir — the core of the territorial dispute between India and Pakistan.
“The Commission is trying to defuse a geopolitical conflict,” Matteo Mariano, expert in trademarks at Novagraaf law firm said.
“It could have said ‘first come, first served,’ but it chose not to, considering that the territorial issues between India and Pakistan are not its concern.”
Sources from both Pakistan and India that were contacted by Euronews denied that their country was asking for exclusive recognition of the basmati origin. Yet, the path to a common solution does not seem to be emerging.
In the midst of negotiations for a much broader trade agreement — ranging from automotive markets to dairy products to public procurement — the EU finds itself walking a tightrope.
“If the Commission is strong-handed, it can force a joint registration by Pakistan and India”, Mariano said. “This depends on the importance of the trade agreement for India and whether the EU has time to block negotiations on GIs,” he explained.
According to the lawyer, if India wants to have doors opened for itself, the EU can leverage that to benefit its own companies.
But for that, the Commission will need to be a shrewd strategist, as Delhi is represented by “tough negotiators,” Šefčovič himself conceded in September.
Should have done better with a header when presented with a great chance to equalise but a strong performance from the full-back.
CRISTHIAN MOSQUERA – 4
His mis-kick gifted Newcastle the corner that led to their opener and he didn’t recover.
Billy Vigar dead: Ex-Arsenal star dies aged just 21 after suffering ‘significant brain injury’ hitting head during match
Struggled once the game turned into a scrap and by half-time his manager had seen enough as he was replaced by William Saliba.
GABRIEL – 6
8
Gabriel Magalhaes netted the winnerCredit: PA
Looked rattled up against Woltemade and his weak attempt to buy a foul allowed the German to nod home.
His head had gone after that and he was fortunate when no VAR check caught his swing at Woltemade before the break.
Looked a lot more confident and composed once Saliba joined him in the backline and he put a difficult afternoon behind him by holding off Dan Burn to head home the winner at the death.
RICCARDO CALAFIORI – 6
Marshalled Jacob Murphy well in the first half but offered little going up the other way.
Was fuming when the referee put a stop to him using a towel for a long throw.
Got hooked midway through the second half as the Gunners had to go for it, but not before going into the book for a daft foul.
EBERECHI EZE – 6
8
Eberechi Eze almost scored at St James’ ParkCredit: Getty
8
Forced Pope into an early save and unleashed another great strike before the break.
Was a constant threat throughout but he was bought to get goals in these big games and he failed to do that.
MARTIN ZUBIMENDI – 6
Struggled with the pace of the game at times and also failed to provide enough protection defensively, fortunately, he had Rice alongside him to help.
He did produce a fantastic outside of the boot pass to put it on a plate for Timber but that was the highlight of his afternoon.
DECLAN RICE – 8
8
Declan Rice impressed in the midfieldCredit: AP
Tried his best to make things happen and did brilliantly to track Jacob Murphy and deny him a second.
Covered a lot of ground and got his reward when Merino capitalised on his brilliant cross.
BUKAYO SAKA – 6
Enjoyed a good battle against Dan Burn but the Toon defender just about edged it.
Helped out full-back Timber really well but just wasn’t his day up the other end.
LEANDRO TROSSARD – 6
8
Leandro Trossard was not at his bestCredit: AP
Another who tried his best to make something happen but he just couldn’t make it click.
Replaced late on without really causing too much of a threat.
VICTOR GYOKERES – 6
Headed straight at Nick Pope early on and then became the pantomime villain after being denied the penalty.
Rarely had a sniff after that as he struggled against the imposing Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman.
SUBS
WILLIAM SALIBA (for Mosquera, 46) – 7
Helped manage the physicality of Woltemade a lot better than the man he replaced.
The Gunners looked a lot more composed defensively while he was on the pitch.
GABRIEL MARTINELLI (for Saka, 70) – 6
Struggled to really get involved upon his arrival. Had one long-ranger late on but that was about it.
MIKEL MERINO (for Calafiori, 70) – 7
8
Merino’s perfect header levelled the scoresCredit: AP
Injected fresh life into the middle to keep Arsenal’s hopes of a comeback going and produced a great header to equalise.
MARTIN ODEGAARD (for Zubimendi, 82) – 6
Could see Arsenal’s confidence grow as soon as he got on and he provided the magic for a winner. His brilliant corner was placed perfectly for Gabriel to head home.
MYLES LEWIS-SKELLY (for Trossard, 88) – 5
His pace was a threat during the closing stages but failed to carve open a clear-cut opportunity.
Mallam Abakar and his two sons leave their home in Gyawana, Lamurde Local Government Area of Adamawa State, northeastern Nigeria, at 5 a.m. every weekday. Thirty minutes later, they arrive at the farm, and each one of them takes a position.
Five-year-old Isiaka sits at the entrance, guarding a wide bed of ripening rice. His older brother, Abu, stays in the opposite direction. Their father settles near their makeshift shelter, his gaze sweeping across the entire field.
Isiaka and Abu clutch pieces of zinc and wooden sticks to make a sound. Day after day, the boys repeat this routine, standing guard over their father’s rice field as if it were a battlefield.
By 6 a.m., the team is on high alert. As the father patrols the edges of the field, the boys pound their gongs and shout fiercely, driving away swarms of quelea birds before they can descend.
The quelea species native to sub-Saharan Africa is the most numerous bird species in the world, with a peak post-breeding population estimated at 1.5 billion, according to the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International. Known as the red-billed quelea, this small weaver bird is notorious for its attacks on small-grain crops. It is a major pest throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa and can cause significant economic losses.
A swarm of quelea birds in the sky at dawn in Gyawana. Photo: Saduwo Banyawa/ HumAngle
Across Nigeria, the recurring quela bird invasion of rice farms remains a great challenge to farmers, especially those in Adamawa, Taraba, Sokoto, Jigawa, and Yobe. The invasion is noted as one of the reasons driving food shortages in these regions, as the dangerous parasites are capable of wiping out hectares in minutes during every invasion.
The family that watches
Mallam Abakar has been cultivating rice for more than a decade. Apart from the recurring flood, farmer-herder clashes, another challenge he faces in the region is quelea bird invasions.
The first major invasion in Adamawa State was reported in 2016, when the birds swept through 12 council areas, destroying crops worth millions of naira. Since then, the birds have repeatedly unleashed large-scale devastation, pushing rice farmers in the region into crippling losses.
“The birds come every year. In the last few years, we noticed a decline in their invasions, but this year, they are back with full force,” Abakar said.
Mallam Abakar in his rice farm in Gyawana. Photo: Saduwo Banyawa/HumAngle
HumAngle gathered that the birds usually appear at the end of July and stay until October. As early as 6 a.m., they start hovering above the fields, attempting to descend, prompting farmers to chase them away in an effort to protect their crops.
The birds are scarcely seen in the afternoon, as they retreat to nearby sugar cane plantations for rest. However, around 5 p.m., they re-emerge in their thousands, and farmers resume their vigilant watch.
Local farmers say the birds are highly sensitive to sound, often targeting unguarded farms.
Flying in a swarm of thousands, they descend, settle, and can strip a hectare of rice in minutes. The birds are attracted to mostly rice fields, especially those nearing maturity. They feed by sucking out the milky sap from developing grains or plucking out fully ripened seeds. In addition to feeding damage, their rapid wingbeats shake the plants, causing seedlings and grains to fall to the ground.
To keep them away, the farmers patrol their farms, and since they can’t be everywhere at once, they set up dummies to create the illusion of a human presence. Sometimes they tie strips of leather or plastic across the farms. When the wind blows, the strips flutter and mimic movement, which discourages the birds from descending. Farmers also hit gongs to scare the swarms away or alert neighbouring farms that the birds are on the move.
Mallam Abakar said he and his children only rest when the birds leave the fields in the afternoon. The family has set up a small tent on the farm, where they take shelter from the scorching sun. There, they pray and share meals before returning to their watch.
Shaking his head repeatedly, Abakar told HumAngle, “It’s draining. Imagine doing this every day before harvest. We get tired, and sometimes it feels like we should just let them be.”
However, he cannot ignore the birds, as he is a full-time farmer who relies on his farm yields to cater for his family. In a good year, he usually harvests around 20 bags of rice or more. However, in recent times, he has endured repeated tussles with the birds.
“There was a certain year they wiped off my entire rice field,” Abakar recounted. “It was devastating, and since then, I’ve been on guard.”
It was after the birds wiped off his rice fields that he started bringing his children to the farm to assist in scaring the birds away.
“We don’t wait for them to attack before we start defending,” Abakar said.
A dummy set up to create the illusion of a human presence. Photo: Saduwo Banyawa/HumAngle
Tiny birds, huge losses
Bernard Ramson, a 40-year-old rice farmer in the region, who also works as a private security guard, told HumAngle that the quelea bird invasion on his farm left him depressed. He started farming in the region last year and enjoyed a bountiful harvest in April after taking part in irrigation.
“We started sighting the birds around July, and by August, their numbers tripled,” he said.
For months, Bernard tended to his rice farm, applying pesticides and weeding by hand. With less than a month to harvest, he was counting down until he arrived at his rice field one morning to find it destroyed. The birds had drained the milky sap from the ripening rice, leaving behind husks and wasted seeds.
“I was expecting over 20 bags of rice, but I ended up with half a bag. I was so disturbed to the extent that I was bedridden for days,” he said.
Bernard has not returned to the farm since the incident. He said the sight of the farm devastates him, and the loss has even disrupted his work routine, making him unable to cope.
He attributes the loss to his tight schedule. “Farmers who can’t wait all day hire people to watch their farms 24/7 and scare the birds away, but as a security guard who shuffles between work and farming, I wasn’t always available, so the birds took advantage of my absence and wreaked havoc on my farm,” Bernard said.
While they also damage guinea corn farms, he said, rice farmers suffer the most severe losses.
“I’ve seen people hitting gongs and walking around their farms. Others spread nets on the farm to trap the birds, but even that is not sufficient because some of them end up escaping from the net,” he said. While he is still grappling with the loss, he intends to resume farming next year, and this time, he said, he’d be prepared.
HumAngle spoke to some farmers in Garin Overseer, another community battling with the invasions in the Lamurde Local Government of Adamawa State.
Richard Pwanidi, a 35-year-old who inherited his father’s farmland, has erected a makeshift shelter on the farm. There, he and his brothers take turns warding off the quelea birds in the night. He had lost a significant portion of his rice crop to their invasion.
The makeshift shelter where Richard and his brothers spend the night, warding off birds. Photo: Saduwo Banyawa/HumAngle
Richard said that though all mechanisms were in place to drive the birds away, the invasion had cost him a lot.
HumAngle observed leather strips tied around his farm, dummies placed in front of each rice bed, and his brothers constantly patrolling the fields, creating the impression of human movement. These strategies are similar to the ones adopted by other farmers in the area.
“We beat drums, we screamed when we saw them approaching, but it seems they were already used to it, because despite the effort, they flew into my farm, descended, and did their thing,” Richard said.
He lost three beds of rice to the birds, as did his brother on the same day.
Richard is currently carrying out an early harvest due to the invasion. Even though his rice crops require a week or more to fully ripen, he said he’d rather harvest them now than lose everything to the birds.
Richard’s brothers harvest early due to the quelea bird invasions in the region. Photo: Saduwo Banyawa/HumAngle
According to Richard, farmers in the region are tired. “We are not talking about five or ten thousand of them. We are talking about thirty thousand and above, descending at once,” he said.
‘Overlapping schedules’
After witnessing the devastation, HumAngle consulted Bethel Clement, a conservation biology scholar at the A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, University of Jos, Plateau State, on why the invasion persists. “The issue continues because farming schedules overlap with Quelea migration. Altering rice production timing to avoid this overlap could drastically reduce damage, though local constraints such as water availability may limit such flexibility,” he said.
The conservation biologist also said that while chemical spraying is widely used, it harms ecosystems and is unsustainable. He recommended more integrated measures, including synchronised planting and early harvesting, organised community bird-scaring, habitat management to reduce roosting near farms, and encouraging natural predators such as kestrels and owls through nest boxes and perches. These approaches, he said, balance food security with environmental protection and offer farmers long-term resilience.
‘We need help’
In 2020, the sum of ₦13 billion was approved by the Federal Government to tackle the quelea bird and other pest invasions across 12 affected states in Nigeria, including Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Taraba. Four years later, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development flagged off the project in Kebbi. However, the affected farmers in Adamawa who spoke to HumAngle said they have yet to benefit from the intervention.
“I’ve been farming rice in this region with my late father since I was a boy, and I’ve never witnessed any aerial spray of chemicals facilitated by the government. We heard that money was approved by the government for aerial spraying, but we’ve not seen it so far,” Richard said.
He added that the only support they received was from Savannah Sugar, a private company that sprayed chemicals around farms in Gyawana, Garin Overseer, Opalo, and other areas, approximately ten years ago. “[After the company spread the chemical, the birds vanished for like three years before they returned,” Richard added.
HumAngle contacted the office of the Adamawa State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development for comments on the state government’s planned response to the invasion, if any, but received no reply at press time.
Richard believes government intervention could prevent further losses.
“We need help,” the farmer said.
In Gyawana, northeastern Nigeria, rice farmers like Mallam Abakar grapple with quelea bird invasions, a major pest problem causing severe economic losses. Abakar and his sons must daily guard their rice fields from swarms of these destructive birds, which can swiftly devastate crops. Despite efforts involving sound, dummies, and nets to deter the birds, the farmers face immense challenges, including crop losses and exhaustion from constant vigilance.
The quelea birds, native to sub-Saharan Africa, migrate annually, severely impacting rice farms due to their synchronized arrival with farming schedules. Farmers like Richard Pwanidi and Bernard Ramson experience significant losses when the birds strip fields of rice, leading to economic distress. Measures such as early harvesting, coordinated bird-scaring, and integrated farming strategies are proposed by experts, yet farmers find little governmental or external aid to implement these solutions effectively.
While a ₦13 billion government project was set up to combat such invasions, many affected farmers in Adamawa State, including Abakar and Pwanidi, report seeing no such interventions. They rely mostly on private entities like Savannah Sugar for support, underscoring a need for more consistent government assistance to safeguard their livelihoods.
Los Angeles has many valleys, but only one is the Valley. You know it as soon as you crest over the 101, 405, 170 or 5 freeways, its bordering hills verdant or golden depending on the time of year. Pull off almost any exit and you’ll immediately be greeted by shopping centers, strip malls, mom-and-pop markets and fine-dining dens serving up some of the city’s most ambitious and heartfelt meals.
Bounded by mountains on all sides, the San Fernando Valley spans 260 square miles and is home to nearly half of L.A.’s population, around 1.8 million people. Across its expanse, it assumes many identities.
Our favorite places to eat and drink in the 818. From high-end sushi to burger shacks, tiki bars, dives and more.
Long before its peaks and basins were crisscrossed with highways and miles-long boulevards, the Tongva people lived along the water-rich and wooded areas of the Valley for more than 7,000 years. In the late 18th century, Spanish settlers by way of Mexico traversed over the Santa Monica Mountains into what is now known as Encino.
More than a century ago, the citrus orchards began to give way as Warner Bros., Walt Disney and Universal studios built out their filming lots. A tinge of Tinseltown and tourism followed, while room to grow brought a midcentury housing boom to the region. Themed restaurants and tiki haunts popped up to keep diners entertained. Now, it’s difficult to find a Valley establishment that hasn’t made a TV or film appearance.
As Valley dwellers began settling in — immigrants, suburban families, celebrities — its food scene flourished in step.
On Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, you’ll find Casa Vega, its dim interior practically untouched since Rafael “Ray” Vega first founded it in 1956. The son of Tijuana-born immigrants who ran popular Cafe Caliente on Olvera Street beginning in the 1930s, Vega introduced many Valley diners — including a flock of silver screen regulars — to Mexican-American staples such as fajitas and enchiladas.
Farther south in Studio City, take your pick from a parade of Japanese restaurants along Sushi Row. The stretch of Ventura Boulevard became a hub for high-end Japanese cuisine after pioneering chef Kazunori Nozawa opened his Edo-style sushi restaurant Nozawa in 1987. Though that location has since closed, Nozawa has spawned a global restaurant empire with his KazuNori, Nozawa Bar and Sugarfish chains.
Pull off the main drag and you’ll find hidden gem burger shacks, taquerias, hot dog joints, kebab shops and neighborhood delis. Meanwhile, Valley residents are spearheading new concepts.
“We’re born and bred Valley kids, so we had to do it in the Valley,” said Marissa Shammas on opening Yala Coffee, a Middle Eastern-inspired cafe, with her husband Zain Shammas in Studio City. “[People] commonly think [the Valley] is where things go to die — and we think that that’s where things go to be more.”
There’s more to discover than ever when it comes to dining in the 818 (or 747). Eight Times food writers spent months exploring the Valley in search of the best for this guide, reconnecting with old favorites and finding new surprises.
For me, it was also an exercise in nostalgia. Old shortcuts returned like muscle memory as I reacquainted myself with the Woodland Hills blocks where I navigated young adulthood. In North Hollywood, my home for several years into my early 30s, former standbys suddenly returned to the forefront of my mind: The tiki bar across the street from my old apartment, a hole-in-the-wall Puerto Rican restaurant where salsa music draws you in, a vibrant Jamaican bistro that now sits in Sherman Oaks. I found myself wishing I could linger in the Valley longer.
Here are our favorites, spanning Filipino-Mexican fusion in a Northridge car wash-turned-restaurant, a DMV-adjacent street-stand for lamb barbacoa in Arleta and a fast-growing mini chain of Sephardic pastries. It’s time to dig into the Valley. — Danielle Dorsey
On bustling Western Avenue in the heart of Gardena, Sakura-Ya and Chikara Mochi sit about 250 feet away from each other, frequented by South Bay residents for decades for fluffy mochi and cakey manju. They’re two of the only traditional Japanese mochi shops in L.A., with blink-and-you’ll-miss-it signage.
Just a block away is Meiji Tofu Shop, a nearly 50-year-old producer that churns out fresh soy milk and tofu daily. Cross the street to find Otafuku — where the Akutsu family has been serving traditional Tokyo soba since 1997.
You’ll find similar clusters of diverse Japanese food in strip malls across Gardena as well as Torrance, which has the largest East Asian population in all of L.A. The two neighboring cities are home to the biggest suburban Japanese community in the United States — and a decades-old restaurant landscape that feels like a time capsule, yet continues to flourish as a haven for classic Japanese cuisine and hospitality.
“It’s like we’re stuck in the ’90s,” said South Bay native Daniel Son, the chef and owner of Gardena’s Sushi Sonagi. “These days, when everything is monetizing and content creating has to be so fresh, they don’t care. They’re just gonna make great product and quietly do it.”
Japanese immigrants first came to the L.A. area in the late 1800s and early 1900s — many from San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake — as strawberry farmers. Unlike Little Tokyo, which has been subject to the whims of tourists and the changing landscape of downtown L.A., the suburban South Bay has maintained a more stable identity, according to Emily Anderson, a curator for Little Tokyo’s Japanese American National Museum.
“In places like Torrance and Gardena, you have the development and preservation of Japanese American food — it [has] layers of history and struggle, but food ultimately being a source of comfort and identity,” Anderson said.
When Torrance became the site of Toyota’s North American headquarters in 1967, more Japanese immigrants, and food, came with it. Over the next few decades, dozens of restaurants opened in Torrance and Gardena, along with a growing number of Japanese supermarket chains like Tokyo Central, Nijiya Market and Mitsuwa Marketplace, giving neighbors a taste of home.
By the time Toyota left Torrance for Texas in 2017, these businesses had proved themselves integral to the region’s culinary fabric. Their networks, once primarily composed of Japanese immigrants and descendant families, had extended to residents of all backgrounds.
“My plan is to be the last bastion of Japanese food prepared the Japanese way,” said former Tokyo resident Kristen McIntyre, owner of homestyle Japanese restaurant Fukagawa in Gardena.
Many Japanese restaurant owners in the area have a “serve what you want to eat” mindset, said Otafuku owner Mieko Akutsu. “We never adjusted the flavor for American people.”
In her case, that means serving three types of soba, including sarashina soba — a white noodle made using the core of the buckwheat plant — which became known as an upscale dish in Tokyo, where regular, darker soba became a popular working-class meal during the Edo period.
Today, restaurants like Sushi Sonagi, which opened in 2023, along with Michelin-starred Sushi Inaba in Torrance, lead the way in bringing Angelenos — and diners from across the country — to the South Bay, where troves of Japanese restaurants and shops, many immigrant-run and cash-only, shine in all their old-school glory. Many don’t have PR firms or flashy Instagram accounts; some will give you a handwritten receipt and others don’t have websites.
“I felt like [opening Sushi Sonagi] in the South Bay almost celebrates the diversity and the rich Asian American culture that’s very deep here,” said Son, who blends his Korean American heritage into his roughly 20-course omakase. “It’s just really cool to bring more life to an area that I feel like is L.A.’s little secret.”
But sushi is merely the cusp of the region’s offerings. Torrance and Gardena are L.A.’s storied destinations for every type of Japanese food imaginable: Yoshoku restaurants, which combine Japanese and Western cooking, coexist alongside traditional izakayas, yakitori joints and newer businesses that hail from Japan. Use these 18 spots as a starting point for some of the best — and some of the oldest — Japanese restaurants that have quietly put South Bay suburbs on the L.A. dining map.
Los Angeles city leaders are at a critical juncture ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics, with potentially hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars at stake.
They are in negotiations with LA28, the private committee overseeing the Games, for the use of the city’s police, traffic officers and other employees during the Olympics and Paralympics.
Millions of visitors are expected to pour into downtown L.A., the Sepulveda Basin and the Westside when the Olympics kick off in July 2028. Security, trash removal, traffic control, paramedics and more will be needed during the 17-day event and the two-week Paralympics the following month.
Under the 2021 Games agreement between LA28 and the city, LA28 must reimburse the city for any services that go beyond what the city would provide on a normal day. The two parties must agree by Oct. 1, 2025, on “enhanced services” — additional city services needed for the Games, beyond that normal level — and determine rates, repayment timelines, audit rights and other processes.
LA28 has billed the Games as a “no cost” event for the city. Depending on how “enhanced services” are defined, the city, which is in a precarious financial state, could end up bearing significant costs. One of the biggest expenses will be security, with the LAPD, as well as a host of other local, state and federal agencies, working together to keep athletes and spectators safe.
Overtime for Los Angeles police officers, and any other major expenses, would be acutely felt by a city government that recently closed a nearly $1-billion budget deficit, in part by slowing police hiring. The city continues to face rising labor costs and diminished revenues from tourism.
At the same time, President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, recently passed by Congress, includes $1 billion for security and planning of the Games. But what those funds will cover — and what will be covered by LA28 — are not yet known.
Against that backdrop, civil rights attorney Connie Rice sent a six-page letter dated July 17 to Mayor Karen Bass and other city leaders, asking questions about the enhanced services agreement and urging the city to take a tough stance. Rice said city staffers reached out to her because they were worried that the agreement wouldn’t adequately protect the city.
“Los Angeles faces multiple fiscal hazards that many current leaders negotiating this and other Olympics agreements, will not be around to face,” Rice wrote. “The City cannot afford an additional $1.5 billion hit in 2028 because city officials inadequately protected taxpayers in 2025.”
Rice’s letter asks if LA28 and the city have resolved differences about the definition of venue “footprints,” or perimeters around sporting events, with the footprint changing depending on whether it’s defined by a blast radius, a security perimeter or other factors.
The letter questioned why LA28 isn’t paying the city up front for costs, using money in escrow, and asked if LA28 has provided the city with a budget for security, transit and sanitation.
Rice, in an interview, said she wants to ensure the Games are indeed “no cost.”
Both Paul Krekorian, who heads Mayor Karen Bass’ major events office, and an LA28 representative declined to directly address Rice’s letter.
“The City and LA28 have been collaborating for years to ensure that all Angelenos benefit from the Games for decades to come,” said Krekorian. “While the [agreement] is currently under negotiation, we fully expect that LA28 will be successful in its fundraising efforts to deliver the Games.”
The city routinely provides police officers and traffic officers for major events, such as Dodgers games and the Grammy Awards. In 2022, the Rams reimbursed the city $1.5 million for resources it provided for the team’s Super Bowl parade, according to City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo.
Last month, Szabo’s office released a document on the city’s investor website outlining potential liabilities facing the city, including some related to the 2028 Games. The document noted that roughly $1 billion in security costs will have to be paid by the city if they are not covered by LA28 or the federal government.
Jacie Prieto Lopez, LA28’s vice president of communications, told The Times that security and other planning costs haven’t been finalized.
Rice’s letter questioned whether LA28 would cover the cost of security. Prieto Lopez didn’t directly answer when asked by The Times if LA28 will cover the LAPD’s expenses.
“We are grateful that the Administration and Congress recently appropriated $1 billion in security funding and we will continue to work with our partners at the federal, state and local levels, including the City of LA, to ensure a safe, secure and successful Games,” Prieto Lopez said in an email.
How the $1 billion from the Big Beautiful Bill is distributed will be determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the Homeland Security Grant Program, which is focused on preventing terrorism and other threats.
Anita Gore, a spokesperson for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, told The Times that she expects those funds to be managed by the state through the Homeland Security Grant process.
The Office of Emergency Services is the “coordination hub” for the Games and is overseeing a statewide task force focused on security, traffic management and more, Gore said.
At a recent hearing in Sacramento, LA28 Chief Executive Reynold Hoover said the nonprofit continues to push for federal support for the Games. He said the $1 billion recently approved by Congress will “help us with that initial funding requirements for security.”
Hoover told a Senate subcommittee in June that LA28 is asking the federal government to fully reimburse the public agencies that will provide critical security at the Games.
A representative for the Department of Homeland Security declined to answer questions about how the $1 billion will be used.
Trump’s mercurial nature and past attacks on California make it difficult for some city leaders to gauge how his administration will handle funding for the Games.
Rep. Nellie Pou of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Congressional Task Force for Enhancing Security for Special Events, held a public hearing last month on preparing for the World Cup and Olympics. She told The Times that she has not received any specifics about the $1 billion.
“This administration has withheld and frozen other federal funding appropriated by Congress, so we cannot simply assume that World Cup or Olympic security funding will make it to our communities,” she said.
Krekorian, when asked about Pou’s concerns, said the city “is in direct communication with state and federal partners, as well as LA28, about the allocation of these funds.”
Former 21st Century Fox and Walt Disney Co. executive Peter Rice has been named head of ceremonies and content for the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles, LA28 organizers said Wednesday.
In this role, the longtime TV veteran will be in charge of the physical production and creative oversight of the opening and closing ceremonies for both games. The 2028 Summer Olympics’ opening ceremony will be held at two venues — the Coliseum and SoFi Stadium. The Games’ closing ceremony will be held at the Coliseum.
In a statement, Rice said he looked forward to producing ceremonies that would honor the legacy of the Coliseum and “celebrate the cutting-edge future” of SoFi Stadium.
“These venues have hosted some of the most legendary moments in sports history,” Rice said. “I’m thrilled to deliver a powerful artistic experience that adds a new chapter to LA’s Olympic and Paralympic story.”
LA28 President and Chairperson Casey Wasserman said Rice’s background in “creativity, operational insight and production excellence” made him ideal for the position.
“He’s been a leading figure in shaping the modern television and film landscape and is the perfect asset to reimagining the delivery of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the digital age, leaving a legacy well beyond the Games,” Wasserman said in a statement.
Rice spent decades at Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, eventually rising to the role of president. After Disney acquired the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox in 2019, he became chairman of Disney’s TV content division. At one point, analysts and insiders speculated that he could become Disney’s CEO.
After a raucous night out in my 20s, the real afterparty was always at BCD Tofu House — hunched over bubbling Korean tofu stew and a sizzling-hot stone bowl of steamed rice. After I’d scooped most of it out, a server would pour warm tea into the bowl, loosening the rice clinging stubbornly to the bottom. Scraping up those crispy-chewy bits of scorched rice, known in Korean as nurungji, quickly became my favorite part of the meal.
Long before electric rice cookers, Koreans traditionally cooked rice over an open flame in an iron cauldron called a gamasot. As it steamed, the bottom layer would crisp up against the hot metal, forming golden-brown nurungji.
“Today, nurungji simply means the crispy layer of rice that forms at the bottom of any pot or cooking appliance,” says Sarah Ahn, who co-wrote the Korean cookbook “Umma” with her mother, Nam Soon Ahn. “Personally, and within Korean culture, I see nurungji as a deeply nostalgic food, especially for Koreans of my mom’s generation.”
Chef and cookbook author Debbie Lee adds, “Sometimes it’s intentional, sometimes it’s from overcooking — what I call a great culinary accident.”
Korea isn’t alone in its love for scorched rice. Persian tahdig is the crust that forms at the bottom of the pot, flipped and served with the crispy layer on top. Chinese guoba is crispy rice paired with saucy stir-fries to soak up every bit of flavor. In West Africa, kanzo refers to the caramelized layer left behind after cooking, often found in dishes like jollof rice. Spain’s socarrat forms the base of well-executed paella.
And in Korea, nurungji is endlessly versatile — enjoyed on its own, steeped in hot water or tea as sungnyung (thought to be a soothing palate cleanser and digestive aid), or transformed into nurungji-tang, where the rice becomes the crunchy base for a light broth with seafood or vegetables.
With its nutty, toasted flavor that highlights the grain’s natural aroma, nurungji is comfort food born out of practicality. “Like so much of Korean food, it represents our resourcefulness — nothing goes to waste! — and our ability to find flavor in humble things,” says Sarah. Rather than discarding it, Koreans embraced the crunchy layer as a snack or meal.
“My parents are from Pyongyang and fled during the war,” says Lee. “My mother told me that they’d find an abandoned house to rest in, and nine times out of 10, there was rice. They lived off porridge, steamed rice, and ultimately nurungji as a snack.”
SeongHee Jeong, chef and co-owner of Koreatown’s Borit Gogae, remembers eating it sprinkled with sugar — a delicious treat when sweets were scarce. While there’s no single way to make it today, Sarah and her mom swear by the traditional method. “Nothing compares to the flavor of rice cooked in a gamasot over a wood fire,” Sarah says. “That taste is so iconic, you’ll even find packaged snacks trying to replicate it.”
In L.A., some restaurants keep it old-school by serving nurungji simply steeped in tea or hot water, while others are getting creative with it. Think: nurungji risotto at Jilli, an iced nurungji crema at Bodega Park or a fried chicken and nurungi dish at Fanny’s. At her Joseon pop-up last year, Lee even spun it into a nurungji crème brûlée.
“It’s truly amazing how humble ingredients born from hardship always find their way back,” says Sarah.
Here are 13 of the best restaurants in L.A. serving nurungji in both traditional and unexpected ways.
Six US nationals were taken into custody in South Korea near a restricted border area with North Korea.
South Korean authorities have detained six United States citizens who were attempting to send an estimated 1,300 plastic bottles filled with rice, US dollar bills and Bibles to North Korea by sea, according to news reports.
The US suspects were apprehended in the early hours of Friday morning after they were caught trying to release the bottles into the sea from Gwanghwa island, near a restricted front-line border area with North Korea, South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency reports.
The six were taken into custody after a coastal military unit guarding the area reported them to the police. The area in question is restricted to the public after being designated a danger zone in November due to its proximity to the north.
Activists floating plastic bottles or flying balloons across South Korea’s border with the north have long caused tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
An administrative order banning the launch of anti-Pyongyang propaganda towards the north is already in effect for the area, according to Yonhap.
On June 14, police detained an activist for allegedly flying balloons towards North Korea from Gwanghwa Island.
Two South Korean police officers confirmed the detentions of the six with The Associated Press news agency but gave no further details.
In 2023, South Korea’s Constitutional Court struck down a 2020 law that criminalised the sending of leaflets and other items to North Korea, calling it an excessive restriction on free speech.
But since taking office in early June, the new liberal government of President Lee Jae-myung is pushing to crack down on such civilian campaigns with other safety-related laws to avoid a flare-up in tensions with North Korea and promote the safety of front-line South Korean residents.
Lee took office with a promise to restart long-dormant talks with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. His government has halted front-line anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts, and similar North Korean broadcasts have not been heard in South Korean front-line towns since then.
It remains unclear if North Korea will respond to Lee’s conciliatory gesture after it pledged last year to sever relations with South Korea and abandon the goal of peaceful Korean reunification.
Official talks between the Koreas have been stalled since 2019, when the US-led diplomacy on North Korean denuclearisation derailed.
Japan’s Farm Minister resigned Wednesday after backlash over publicly stating he has never had to buy rice. Photo by Jiji Press/EPA-EFE
May 21 (UPI) — Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, or Farms Taki Eto resigned Wednesday after his comments over the price of rice led to a national backlash.
Eto wrote on his website that he submitted his resignation to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who accepted.
“My remarks were extremely inappropriate at a time when the public is suffering greatly from the rising prices of rice, and for that I offer my sincere apologies,” Eto.
Eto made the comments Sunday a weekend fundraising event, where during a speech he said he had never bought rice, as he receives so much from his supporters.
“I have enough rice at home I could open up a store and sell it,” he said.
He later said the comment was made in jest, but retracted it and admitted that the joke was “too far.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service reported in March that rice “prices have continued to spike and are almost 80% higher in January 2025 than one year ago.”
The Farm Ministry responded to the price of rice with the release of 300,000 tons of reserved rice through July. The government had already released 321,000 tons of rice between March and April as rice prices have risen dramatically in 2025.
Ishiba reportedly chastised Eto on Monday, but on Tuesday the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan made an agreement with four other opposition parties to insist Eto resign, and to together submit a no-confidence motion against him.
Representative Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the CDP, said Wednesday that Eto’s comments “showed no consideration for the people’s lives, who are suffering as rice prices soar, and they rubbed the public the wrong way,” and that Eto in his opinion “shows no sense of crisis about the current situation,” and is “not fit to be a minister.”
Match of the Day 2 pundit Martin Keown compares Declan Rice to David Beckham after the England international scores with a curling strike from outside the box in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Newcastle at the Emirates.
The win confirms a second-place finish in the Premier League and Champions League football next season for the Gunners.
